1. Field of the Invention
A conveyor belt cleaner for an endless conveyor belt trained about a pair of rollers which comprises a plurality of independently operable scraper blade assemblies for removing, from the conveyor belt abrasive and/or foreign materials. Because of the tendency of the belt to accumulate adhering material, it is commonplace to provide beneath the return strand of the belt a plurality of scraper blades to remove this material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
My U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,312 dated Sept. 19, 1967, discloses a mechanical cleaner assembly mounted underneath the return run or strand of the conveyor belt and subjected primarily to bending and torsional forces. The cleaner includes a plurality of torsion springs or arms, each arm operating independently of the other. One end portion of each torsion arm is fixedly connected to the supporting frame and the other end portion, which is free, is provided with a reversible wiper blade which is engageable with a conveyor belt to clean and wipe the abrasive material therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,610 of Michael R. McWilliams, dated Apr. 18, 1972, assigned to the assignee of record, discloses a plurality of independently operable spring-wiper blade assemblies including spring or torsion arms which are mounted on a support structure by means of a resilient mounting structure which absorbs vibration and shock and thereby minimizes fatigue and breakage of the spring arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,786 of Carl G. Matson, dated Apr. 7, 1970, discloses a conveyor belt cleaner including a plurality of blade-torsion arms assemblies of the aforementioned type, with the blades arranged diagonally of the length of the run in overlapping echelon fashion so as to cause the scraped material to be directed toward a discharge at one end of the run.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,231 of Carl G. Matson, dated Aug. 10, 1971, discloses a conveyor belt cleaner having a plurality of elongated torsion arms, with each arm attached to a support so that each arm is rockable relative to the support and relative to the other arms generally about the length of the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,794,540 of Alfred D. Sinden, dated June 4, 1957, discloses a belt cleaner in which leaf springs are provided for the wiper blades.
Each of the prior art patents noted previously utilizes a plurality of torsion or leaf springs or arms for carrying the wiper blades. It has been found that a torsion spring will have a long life but cannot be made uniformly. A leaf spring can be made uniformly but does not have as long a life in a belt cleaning application as a torsion spring.